Online Shoppers Grab Up For Cyber Monday Deals
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The holiday shopping season is officially underway.
But could Black Friday and Cyber Monday be losing their luster?
According to the latest numbers, it appears that way. Consumer spending dropped, and not nearly as many shoppers hit the stores.
On Black Friday in the U.K., it was chaos as shoppers stormed stores, hoping to snag big bargains. Some of the hot items like big screen televisions sparked violent fights.
Here in the United States, the action was a lot calmer. In many places, there weren't even long lines.
According to the National Retail Federation, overall shopper traffic from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday dropped 5.2 percent from last year.
Dr. Audrey Guskey, an associate professor of marketing at Duquesne University, says she's not at all surprised.
"We've seen tons of promotions and bargains up until now, and we're going to continue to see that and shoppers know that, so Black Friday really doesn't have any magic or sparkle that it used to have," said Guskey.
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Guskey says other reasons for the decline include a tough economy and more options on the Internet.
"It is 2014 and people are really getting smart, and I mean in the sense of smartphones," Guskey said. "So they're using their phones to shop, they're using their phones to save some money, their tablets, they are going online, so the real shining star this holiday season is going to be online shopping."
And a lot of that online shopping is expected to happen today on Cyber Monday.
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Most stores offer discounts and free shipping.
However, even online, this year hasn't been as impressive so far.
The National Retail Federation indicated that the average person who shopped over the weekend spent $159.55 online or 41 percent of their total average budget. That's down just over 10 percent from last year.
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